Disposable absorbent articles, such as sanitary napkins, are maintained against the perineal region of the wearer by adhesively securing the sanitary napkin to the crotch portion of the undergarment. The adhesive securement system usually comprises a plurality of adhesive zones distributed on the barrier layer which create a bond with the undergarment material to maintain the sanitary napkin in place in spite of movements and compression forces acting on it particularly when the wearer is walking or otherwise shifting the position of her legs.
In the past recent years, the industry has designed sanitary napkins with laterally projecting positioning tabs intended to be folded about respective edges of the undergarment for more positively holding the sanitary napkin in place. To develop an effective retention force, the positioning tabs are adhesively secured to the garment facing surface of the underpants. Thus, the sanitary napkin has at least three adhesive zones namely one zone on the main body of the sanitary napkin and two additional adhesive zones one on each positioning tab. To protect the adhesive system while the sanitary napkin is not in use, the manufacturer typically applies a protective layer over each adhesive zone, which is peeled-off by the user immediately prior the placement of the sanitary napkin on the undergarment. The protective layer is generally made of paper having an outer non-stick surface. A particularly useful material is a semi-bleached Kraft paper, the adhesive contacting side of which has been silicone-treated to provide easy release properties.
Some difficulty arises with this approach in that a plurality of separate protective layers are necessary, one for each adhesive zone. Thus, the user is required to separately peel-off several paper strips to expose the entire adhesive system, which is time-consuming and annoying. In addition, the paper strips must be peeled-off with some degree of care to avoid the adhesive zones from contacting each other or the barrier layer of the sanitary napkin. If such an accident occurs, the product can be rendered useless especially if the exposed adhesive on a positioning tab contacts the adhesive zone on the main body of the sanitary napkin.